Experiments
by tomColt15
Summary: After gaining a bit of knowledge on the mechanics of romance, Twilight Sparkle decides she wants a real tested set of data. Perhaps she'd get a friend to help her with this experiment. Who better than Ponyville's very own Rainbow Dash? TwiDash
1. Chapter 1

Winter had finally made its way to Ponyville and snow flakes danced around freely in the wind. The pegasi of Ponyville were all heading their separate ways as they marveled at their own work. The first snowfall of the season was always a fascinating site for many of the ponies that occupied the little town, so of course, many ponies stood outside watching the white specs float around. Some of the foals pulled their parents out to play in the snow a bit as well, even if the snow was hardly an inch up. Even though almost all the ponies in town were outside taking part in the watching of the first snowfall, one certain egghead stayed inside reading.

Finally Twilight Sparkle had completed the last novel in the series. For a while now, Twilight began to read more and more romance novels after her friend Rarity suggested one to her. Even though Twilight was never much of a romantic type, reading about romance made her heart soar. In fact, they actually kind of inspired her a bit.  
From what she's read so far, she already knew how to describe the perfect stallion. Dark, mysterious, charming. She'd read many novels of the forbidden romance, usually pegasus and unicorn pairs or any mixed race couple. In fact, Twilight had devised her own list of good qualities for a stallion. Not only did she assume her dream stallion off the books, but also a perfect relationship.  
Apparently for a relationship to be perfect, it took a predetermined amount of time to form. The two ponies had to be through a lot together and have many things in common. Twilight pondered for a bit, something about what she read was off. It seemed like tonight she'd do a bit of research.

xXx

Rainbow Dash rolled over onto her stomach, causing the cloud beneath her to let out a little poomf. Snow began to sprinkle the village of Ponyville as Dash sighed and watched her breathe set into the air. She stared down at the library under her nose and sighed once more. "_If there's somepony you're quite fond of, you're just going to have to go tell them the truth." _Rarity's words ran through the prismatic pony's head. Dash stepped down to the front door of the library. As she rose a hoof to knock on the wooden door, she felt sweat drip down her brow. Any pony passing by the frozen blue pegasus could see she was nervous. _Why does this have to be so hard? _Rainbow questioned herself.

Sooner than later, Dash let her hoof drop. She sighed with disappointment in herself and decided to confess another day. As she flew home she couldn't help but whisper stupid many tiems at herself while simultaneously bashing her head with her hoof.

xXx

Charts and graphs were scattered all across the floor and wall of the violet unicorn's bedroom. Twilight pulled an all nighter once again, but it was worth it in order to get all her answers. After double checking her math, she finally concluded the lasting time of a good and bad couple. However, even after all her research, Twilight had to be sure. Perhaps an experiment would confer her findings. Since she concluded that a bad pairing would only last two weeks at most, she'd get a pony that wasn't good material dating. First she needed to pick a pony.

Asking a random pony off the street to go out wouldn't exactly be normal, so Twilight decided to get one of her friends. Rarity and Fluttershy would actually work as dating material, so they were off the list. Pinkie, Applejack, and Rainbow were the least like Twilight so that helped a bit. Pinkie Pie was a bit chaotic and Twilight didn't know if she had the patience to deal with dating her even for research. Besides the holiday season would keep the sugar filled pony busy at work anyway. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were Twilight's polar opposites, perfect. Since winter was never a season for apple harvests, Applejack would obviously have time off and Rainbow Dash was Rainbow Dash. She always had time to sleep, so they'd both work. Now for the selection. Applejack was a hardworking and dependable pony, whereas Rainbow Dash was lazy and brash. Rainbow Dash it is.

xXx

Rainbow Dash held a single Daring Do book between her wing and her side. She decided she'd at least have an excuse for having come to Twilight's house. After breaking the ice, she could spill her heart to Twilight and BAM! Right under her wing. In her head, it was pure genius. _Alright Dash, just be cool. _Rainbow quickly reminded herself before letting herself into the library.

"Hey Twilight!" the rambunctious pegasus busted in.

"Ah Rainbow Dash!" Twilight beamed. "Just the pony I was looking for."

"Heh, cool," Rainbow stammered. "I, uh, just wanted to return this Daring Do book," she said, handing the unicorn the book in question.

"I was wondering where that went. A filly came in the other day looking for this copy," Twilight spoke while magically putting the book back with the rest of the Daring Do series. "Anyway, I wanted to ask you something very important." Dash's ears perked up. "Will you go out with me?"

Six words caused Rainbow's heart to skip a beat and soar through the skies. Twilight Sparkle, the very pony Dash had her eyes one, was asking her out. Even though she begged herself to shout yes, Rainbow refused to look stupid in front of Twilight.

"Sure," Dash replied seemingly unfazed.

"Great," Twilight said. "How's Friday afternoon? We could go to a restaurant or maybe a movie would serve as a better option." Twilight pondered.

"A movie sounds fine," Rainbow agreed. If they were to go to a restaurant, Rainbow Dash knew a lot of talking would have to take place. Rainbow would be far too nervous, which would most likely lead to awkward silences. Rainbow didn't want to take any risks that would ruin her chances with Twilight. At least at a movie Rainbow wouldn't have as much of a chance to blow things up.

"Alright, Friday night then?" Twilight confirmed.

"Friday night," Dash repeated with a goofy grin plastered on her face.

As the gleeful pegasus soared home she kept replaying the six words that somehow escaped the unicorn's lips. Once inside the comfort of her home, Dash involuntarily let out another one of her rare fan girl squees. "I can't believe I'm actually going on a legit date with Twilight Sparkle!" Rainbow squeaked. Another squee made its way through her mouth, causing a certain tortoise to pop his head out. She giggled at her own silliness for a second. "Sorry Tank."

xXx

The violet hued unicorn watched as her prismatic friend exited her abode. She decided it'd be best that Rainbow hadn't known it was an experiment. It she did know, she might act differently when going on dates. Once Twilight got to her bed, she began to jot notes on some parchment.

"Experiment: Two Weeks. Research: Bad pairs can only make it through two weeks at most. Hypothesis: Rainbow Dash and I will break up in less than two weeks. Date one," Twilight spoke as she wrote. " Alright research, don't fail me now."

* * *

_A/N; The Other Side of the Rainbow is on Hiatus (go to my profile for more info). I had a poll up for shippings and TwiDash won, so here's some generic TwiDash. It shouldn't be too long, just something short and sweet. Weekly updates, every Saturday night, promise. Enjoy :)  
~tC  
P.S. Anyone wanna be a pre-reader for me? So far all my work has just been rough drafts and my grammar isn't the greatest, neither is my vocabulary. Anyone up for the job, PM me._


	2. Chapter 2

In the morning, Rainbow Dash was quite the lazy one. She'd never truly bother to even touch her mane, and she didn't plan on starting anytime soon. However, her plans were a bit interrupted due to the fact that she was going on a first date and needed to do everything in her power to impress Twilight Sparkle. For once, she'd actually ran a brush through her mane after washing it, giving it a more regal appearance. Rather than six different colors split on her head, her prismatic hair colors combined more to look like one changing color.

Rainbow Dash stepped outside of her abode and took in a deep breath. She always enjoyed the scent of the fresh morning air, it was a nice way for her to get away from her nerves. Today, Dash was nervous. Rainbow had been waiting for this chance to pop up since the day she'd met the sparkling unicorn. There was no way in heck she'd mess up this opportunity.

xXx

It was one in the afternoon and Ponyville was relatively quiet. Twilight was in her bedroom pacing back and forth, whilst going through her check list for the umpteenth time. She had to make sure every variable was accounted for in order for the experiment to work out as she planned. She'd just finished checking off the last item on her list, when a knock was heard from her front door.

"I'll get it!" a dragon's voice called from a distant room. Twilight raced down stairs and saw Spike heading for the door, but quickly stopped him.

"Hold on Spike! That must be Rainbow Dash, I have a date with her today," Twilight explained to her number one assistant.

"Wait," Spike began, "You and Rainbow Dash are going on a date? Aren't you two like polar opposites though? Ugh, I don't think that'll work out very well."

"Precisely why I'm going out with her," Twilight answered.

"Oh... wait huh? How does that make any sense?" Spike asked. Another knock on the door was heard, this one was a bit more impatient.

"No more questions Spike, Rainbow's waiting," Twilight said as she finally answered the door. "Hey Rainbow Dash, you're just on time!"

"Heh, yeah, sure am," Dash stuttered. "Uh, anyway, you ready to go?"

"Sure am!" Twilight exclaimed as she stepped out of the house. She closed the door behind her and began walking alongside with her date. "Where are going anyway? I don't really know any of the theaters around."

"Oh yeah, the movie theater is actually on the outskirts of downtown Ponyville," Rainbow Dash explained.

"Downtown? How long will it take for us to get there?"

"Er, on foot, it'll take maybe half on hour or forty five minutes. Something like that," Rainbow answered. Twilight grimaced at the thought of how long it was going to take for them to get to the movies. She hadn't wanted the date to take the rest of her evening, she had to record all her data afterward.

Rainbow saw the look at Twilight's face and stopped walking. Twilight, on the other hoof, continued and began to think of how she'd get her research written since Rainbow had stopped talking. Perhaps she would be able to take notes during the actual date. Twilight was in the middle of her thought process when a pair of hooves from above slipped beneath her forehoofs.

All of the sudden she was lifted into the air by the strong hoofs and began gliding towards the downtown area. Twilight looked towards the cyan hoofs holding her up and followed them up to the pony. Rainbow Dash had been carrying her through the skies. Twilight could tell they were going a lot faster than any normal pony could even gallop, but for some reason it felt as it they were just breezing by.

The afternoon sky was quite a sight as well. Not only was the sight pretty amazing, but the feeling as well. Twilight hadn't ever flown before, but for a first time it was astonishing! The feel of the wind weaving throughout her mane and in between her ears was unexplainable. Twilight opened her mouth curiously. The wind flowing in made her mouth dry, but the taste of the afternoon air made her mouth tingle.

Rainbow Dash looked back down at Twilight as she carried her through the skies. The fascinated look on her face made Dash apply a goofy grin to her face. Heck, she didn't even care about going to the movies anymore, flying as one with Twilight was enough for her.

Rainbow Dash had a feeling that this date was going to go totally awesome!

* * *

_A/N; Okay, I've got lots of explaining to do. One, terribly sorry about the length of this chapter. Originally, it was supposed to be this plus the whole date. However, I write all my chapters in a journal which my teacher took because I was writing the middle of class TT_TT  
Also, to those pre-readers that generously offered their help; I wanted to get this to you on Wednesday, but I had cross country meets, sorry x_x  
Finally, I would've gotten this out earlier tonight, but haverst moon was out and Chinese heritage requires celebration.  
All that, plus I suffer from cronic procrastination. Sorry, but enjoy x_x_


	3. Chapter 3

The two ponies flew through the sky with ease an enjoyment. Rainbow Dash smirked at the sight of the movie theater, she knew she could get there quickly. Due to Rainbow Dash's quick actions, her and Twilight were easily able to make it to the movie theater. Once they arrived, Rainbow Dash slowly lowered her hooves, giving Twilight the opportunity to get back on the ground. Stepping into the building, their hooves traveled across the red carpet as they walked down an isle of posters advertising movies. Twilight looked around at the differentiating choices they could choose from.

Some of them looked like they were suited for a younger audience, whereas others were the opposite. Some seemed like they'd be terrifyingly disgusting, then there were some that looked like adventure movies. Twilight saw many vampony and mannuluswolf movies along with romance movies. She assumed that most normal ponies would choose to go to a romantic movie for a first date, however, this was Rainbow Dash. Twilight knew the first Daring Do movie came out just the week before, so obviously she'd choose what she wanted. Even though Twilight was fan of the series herself, she didn't know if it'd be quite her suit.

"Hey Twi," a raspy voice spoke up. Twilight jumped at the sudden noise, but then turned to Rainbow Dash.

"Hmm?" she responded.

"Eh, I'm not sure what movie we should go see," Dash said. Twilight only stared for a while. She expected to Dash to just go along and buy tickets for the Daring Do movie before even asking if it were okay. Well, that didn't mean the plan still couldn't go on.

"Well, if there a movie that you'd like to see?" Twilight asked back. Now she knew Rainbow Dash would go on and on about the Daring Do movie which Twilight didn't care for that much. That would make a good add on for her research.

"The Daring Do movie did just come out a while ago," Dash began. Twilight grinned a little, this was perfect. "but, I don't think you'll care much for it. Anything you want to see?"

What. Twilight hadn't account for Rainbow Dash actually not thinking about only herself for a while. It was as if Rainbow Dash had become a totally different pony. Usually she was loud and obnoxious, but now she actually seems quite caring. Perhaps provoking might turn things around.

"Maybe we can watch Dusk," Twilight suggested.

"That one with vamponies and mannuluswolves?" Rainbow Dash clarified. Twilight nodded eagerly. Obviously, Rainbow Dash's less feminine nature would cause her to simply deny a movie like that. Plan, back in action.

"That's the one!" Twilight smirked.

"Oh, okay." Rainbow said simply. _Wait, what? _Twilight thought to herself. _Okay? What do you mean okay? _"Didn't really know you were into that kind of stuff, but whatever you like."

By this point, Twilight was completely baffled. She was so sure Rainbow would be more insensitive about the issue. Perhaps this date would actually turned out smoothly. However, that wasn't the case. Twilight couldn't settle for a good first date, her research depended on this. Everypony knows that the first date can determine everything about the relationship, so this one had to be bad. Perhaps Twilight just had to push Dash's nerves a little more.

"Er, hey Dash," Twilight called. The rainbow pegasus looked over her shoulder to her caller. "You know I didn't really have much to eat today and I forgot my bits at the library." This should get to her.

"Oh. Okay," Rainbow Dash replied. Stared wouldn't really be the right word, more like gaping. Yeah, Twilight was gaping at Dash's actions. "I saved up a bit for extra stuff, so money isn't a problem." Gawking. Yeah, Twilight was gawking. Why was screwing up this date so hard. Twilight expected someone like Rarity or Fluttershy to be so kind on a date, which is why she didn't pick them. However, Rainbow Dash was a totally different story. Why wasn't she cracking yet?

"Uh, thanks?" Twilight finally responded.

"Cool, so we gonna see Dusk right? I think they have that in 3D too, wanna see that?"

"Uh, sure?" Twilight's baffled expression was completely unnoticed by Rainbow Dash. She stood and watched as Rainbow trotted up to the ticket booth in order to purchase tickets to a movie Twilight had no care for.

xXx

"But... I'm... a... _vampony!_" the pale stallion hissed. At that moment, his herbivore adapted teeth sharpened and began to stick out his mouth almost like a dragons. The fur on his back stuck up and his eyes began to glow red. The young stolid mare attempted to gasp, but then stepped closer to the pale colt.

"I don't mind," she spoke, still with no emotions, "but someone else might." The two ponies stepped closer for a kiss. Then, out of nowhere, BAM! A mannuluswolf jumped at the vampony and the two began fighting. All of a sudden, five hundred thousand seven hundred and twenty seven more wolf ponies jumped out the bushes like a pedophile would and attacked the vampony. The vampony stallion swiftly dodge the attacks with bad video editing and called sixty thousand eight hundred ninety three more vamponies.

Twilight held a hoof to her muzzle in order to withhold a yawn. She looked over to Rainbow Dash who was trying her hardest to stay awake. Twilight then looked over to all the other ponies in the theater. It was jam packed with pre-teens and teenage mares, crying, squealing, and "aw"ing over the movie. This was only part of the reason Twilight didn't really want to watch this movie. That and the fact that they picked the worst actors possible. At the spur of the moment, it seemed like a perfect idea to prove her and Dash had nothing in common, but it did the opposite. It showed they both had good tastes in movies.

_Jeez, I've never seen such a terrible movie, _Twilight thought to herself. Actually, Twilight felt like she did more than just think to herself. Almost as if she heard it.

"Sorry," a voice popped up. Yeah, she was definitely hearing things. "Didn't mean to say that aloud," Dash finished her sentence. Twilight blinked for a second, not understanding what had happened. Oh of course, Dash must've said what she was thinking.

"Oh, it's no big deal," Twilight answered, "I was kind of getting bored of this movie as well."

"I could tell by the constant sighing," Rainbow joked. "But how come you chose this movie?"

Twilight shrugged. "I'm not really sure," she lied. "Just seemed like a good idea at the moment," she truthed.

"Well, you wanna go see a better movie?"

"Sure."

"Follow me," Rainbow said as she began to crawl out of the theater. Twilight did as she was told and followed behind Rainbow Dash. Once they got away from the cursed movie, Rainbow looked around stealthily before moving forward. It was then that Twilight noticed she was sneaking her into another movie.

_Am I really going to go through with this? _Twilight thought to herself, _This is like breaking into the movies. Well maybe it'll be okay since she paid for the other movie. _Twilight shrugged off the guilty feeling. Just then, the two ponies arrived in front of another set of double doors. Once they passed through them, they entered a dark room where the only light source was the enormous screen before them.

Twilight looked around, there was a much wider range of audience in this theater. She looked at the screen, it was pitch black. Maybe the movie hadn't started yet, but there were sounds. The sounds were quite peculiar, almost like hissing snakes.

"Psst, Twi' c'mon." Rainbow motioned for Twilight to follow her. "The movie's started already." Twilight followed Rainbow Dash to two open seats and they sat down and watched the black screen. All of a sudden, pictures actually appeared on the screen. There was a dull orange pegasus with a mane of different shades of gray.

_ Of course she'd pick the Daring Do movie. Now, it'll show that we have different tastes since I probably won't like it_. Twilight smirked to herself.

And then she loved it.

* * *

_A/N; Big thanks to CheddarandPretzelCombos for pre-reading this for me. At first the ending was really sucky, so I added a whole nother scene. That's hte power of pre-readers. Also, explained this before, but a mannulus is a pony in latin. Since vere(pronounced where) is man in latin and that's where werewolf comes from, I made mannuluswolf to keep things kind of accurate. On another note, I've got no beef with the Twilight Saga, it's all good. It's just that it's so incredibly easy to dump on, so I just had to.  
P.S. I did get my notebook back (teacher may or may not have said she enjoyed the read). I may or may not have spilled dye all over it though... So I actually have to redo writing the next two chapters...  
(Flippin' long a/n)_


	4. Quick AN Excuses plus an extra

Okay, sorry, quick author's note.

I'm really overdue on another chapter, _but_, it's not for nothing. I promise.  
I've had to do my young authors, history fair, and science fair all in about two weeks because the teachers went on strike and everything was pushed back. Then, cross country is being squeezed in at the last minute and I have about five meets in one week. Now, I have a band performance and a choir performance coming up and I'm staying after school for lots of practice. I'm also setting up a haunted house, cutting into more free time. Drama club got delayed at the beginning of the year and now we're trying to fit as many practices as we can into the little time that we acquire. To top all of that off, my music teacher is dropping a huge jazz band performance on us. Wait, no, now the finish is that I also have lots of NJHS and student council stuff to do as well as other scholarly things so that my teachers can write good recommendations so that I can get a high school scholarship. The end.

"Well Vanessa, these are just a bunch of excuses. Where the mess are mah stories! *mad face*" I know, I'm sorry. However, due to my actions of signing up for a million extra curricular things, I'm going to try making it up. First promise, longer chapters. Next chapter _will_ be more than three thousand words (will be up next week, sorry). I will also take a couple requests, i.e. story ideas, questions, art, all that good stuff (next week I'll do as much requests as possible). Finally, I'll take make up requests. What should I do for you since I was gone so long?

Anyway, thanks a million for reading. So, I shall now give you an excerpt of one of the many ideas for stories I have.  
**Warning - SoarinDash**

It was all so confusing. Why did Soaring have to be such a Celestia darned charm. It was like being punished for being simply awesome. Why did he have to go through this.

Soarin sighed. There wasn't much he could do but tell Dash what was going on at the time. Soarin groaned. If he were to tell Rainbow Dash about his current relationship, there was no telling what could happen. Dash was a strange being, more over, a feisty being.

What if Rainbow Dash were to get upset, what if she began a fight with Soarin's current marefriend. Both of them were strong and hated losing, so obviously a fight wouldn't go in anypony's favor. Not only was Soarin worried about the thought of two deranged mares going at each other, but he was also afraid of losing Rainbow Dash forever.

Dash was the mare he'd been looking for his whole life. She was beautiful, strong, independent (hopefully not for long), and simply awesome. Then again, so was Spitfire. So why is Soarin so keen on Rainbow Dash. Perhaps, he shouldn't be messing with fire.

The End

Hope you liked it. I'm going to try and write it up really soon. Next chapter for this coming out Wednesday, so sorry for the delay.


	5. Chapter 4: I kept zero promises

_I kept zero promises..._

* * *

There was just no way to describe how amazing the Daring Do movie was. Personally, Twilight was more of a reader and always favored books over their animated forms. However, this time around was completely different. She could see every last bit of action being displayed, and all the scenes were accurate and in sync with the book. It was quite rare to find such movies now a days. As the two exited the theater, Twilight's mind wouldn't stop going on about how spectacular the movie was.

Twilight finally stopped for a moment and looked to her left, walking besides her was Rainbow Dash – her date. Twilight had suggested such a terrible movie at first and it was Dash's idea to bail and go see a better one. It was obvious they both had a similar taste in movies now, not according to Twilight's plan. All this date had done was show how much more Rainbow proved to be dating material. Once again, Twilight spared a glance for the prismatic pony on her left. She'd been grinning for a while and Twilight was quite unsure of why.

Was she anticipating this? Perhaps she agreed to the suggestion of a movie date for a reason. Did she know that the Daring Do movie was going to bring the two closer? Was she aware of Twilight's plans? No, of course not, just a fluke.

The walk back was a bit awkward. It was beginning to get dark outside and Twilight hadn't spoken to Dash at all. Then it hit her, they weren't talking to one another. Of course, that's why Rainbow Dash seemed so much better at the movies. Without Rainbow Dash being arrogant and loud mouthed, she seemed like better dating material. Perhaps all she needed was a little push for Twilight's research to continue.

"So," Twilight lingered with the single word, "how's it going."

Rainbow flinched at the sudden noise, but quickly regained herself. "Uh, cool I guess." she responded dumbfoundedly.

Drat, it was going to be a bit harder to get a real conversation out of her. "Well, how'd you like the movie?" Twilight asked, hoping Dash would drag on about how awesome it was.

"Which one?" Rainbow Dash scoffed. "The good one or the bad one?"

"The good one."

"Depends on which one you thought was good."

Twilight furrowed her brow in annoyance and opened her mouth to respond. However, rather than a witty response, a light giggle escaped her lips. She quickly put her hoof over her muzzle and fumbled to correct herself. "Ah, you know which one I mean." she said.

"And if I don't?" Dash playfully smirked.

Twilight was unsure of how to respond. On one hoof, she was terribly annoyed. On the other hoof, she found Rainbow's antics to be somewhat funny. "Okay, just talk about which ever one you liked."

"I loved both of 'em!"

Twilight was cunfuzzled.

"Don't get me wrong, that Daring Do movie was a million times better than the other one. But, hey, funny is funny."

Twilight was very cunfuzzled.

"I mean, why hadn't anypony else thought of making such a comedy! Those terrible video editing clips were by far the funniest. The bad acting was a close second though. Jeez, it took everything in me to keep myself from laughing," Rainbow Dash finished explaining. Twilight stared at the pony for a while, unsure of how to respond to her outburst. She took the whole thing as a joke?

Twilight just thought for a moment. Her mind began to wonder back off into what she saw of the vampony movie. A giggle escaped her muzzle, only to be blown away, unheard, by the wind. A chuckle was spat out, loud enough to cause Dash's ear to twitch. A guffaw was hollered for the whole block to hear. Twilight laughed. It was funny, the movie was absolutely hilarious. The crappy quality, the atrocious acting, and the all in all generic romance story, absolutely hysterical!

This time it was Rainbow Dash's turn to stare at the pony besides her. Of course, her plan to get Twilight to laugh all along, but she wasn't expecting this.

"Gah, you're right, it was funny!" Twilight gasped between chortles. "I never thought of it in that way!" Twilight couldn't stop herself. She tried, but the whole thing was just too funny to her. Then it occurred to her, that wasn't very funny at all. So why was she still laughing? Really, if anypony else had said that, Twilight wouldn't care at all. Oh...

Twilight Sparkle quickly shook her head, erasing any thoughts she had at the moment. She was trying to prove how _bad_ a couple they would be, not start falling for Rainbow Dash.

"Ahem, uh, yeah, pretty funny," Twilight said as poised as she possibly could.

"Jeez Twi, I didn't expect you to laugh so much. I mean, you're usually the one who _can't _take a joke," Dash laughed. Twilight scowled a bit, unsure of whether or not to take that as an insult or not. However, she couldn't blame Rainbow Dash, it wasn't everyday Twilight busted out laughing like an idiot. She usually tended to hide any idiotic behavior, unlike most of her friends.

Rainbow Dash noticed the scowl on Twilight's face and immediately stopped talking, but Twilight didn't want her to stop talking. She still needed to execute her plan of showing Dash wasn't a good date. No good ideas came to mind at the moment, but she'd think of one soon. Twilight looked around at the current scenery around her. They were close to her house, but it was getting dark. She decided it was a bit too late to try anything more. Perhaps next week a restaurant date would be in order.

Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash finally arrived at Twilight's library house a bit before nightfall. The two stood outside for a while, no words, just awkwardness.

"Sooo, uh, see you around." Rainbow finally spoke.

"Yeah," Twilight agreed, "I was actually thinking maybe we should go out again sometime next week. Perhaps a dinner?"

Rainbow Dash mentally gulped. She hadn't wanted to have a dinner date early on in the relationship due to her fear of messing things up. Dash knew she had the tendency to say ridiculous things before her brain could correct her, it was a flaw known to many. She hadn't wanted that to mess up her chances with the pony of her dreams. However, she couldn't just turn down another date with the pony of her dreams.

"Uh, sure, sounds great." Rainbow Dash agreed.

Rainbow Dash flew away to her cloud abode, still a bit nervous for the next date. Twilight stood and watched for a bit before going back into her own home. She went through a couple papers on the desk that sat in her room until she found the one she was looking for. It was fairly empty, only a paragraph or two on it. Twilight read the paper;

_Experiment; Two Weeks_

_Research; Bad pairs can only make it through two weeks at most_

_Hypothesis; Rainbow Dash and I will break up in less than two weeks_

_Date One;_

That was all. She began to write on the paper next to the heading "Date One". In science experiments, it was crucial to make sure everything was exact and honest. So Twilight wrote exactly what she thought of the date on the paper.

So far, her research was going well.

* * *

_A/N; Sorry it's really short. I kept no promises. It's really crappy cause I had no time for prereaders to preread. My science fair project is due tomorrow and I haven't picked a topic yet. Again, I'm sorry. I suffer from chronic procrastination x_X_


	6. Chapter 5

It's been exactly five days since Twilight's last date with Rainbow Dash. Like always, she was cooped up in her study, studying. Twilight was always quite fond of sitting at her desk and reading. Everything she needed was right there. She acquired a small lamp, a cup of ink, a quill, and a nice little window that she could watch the rest of Ponyville through. The study was her paradise.

"Twilight?" a slightly masculine voice was heard. Twilight immediately swung her head around to see who was calling her. Of course, it had been the baby dragon that lived with her. "Twilight, what are you doing here? There's snow everywhere! Everypony's outside playing around, you should come with us," Spike said. Twilight pondered the idea for a second, but it just didn't sit in her mind. She simply shook her head and Spike shrugged. "Ah well, you're lost." Spike said as he shut the door to Twilight's room.

After Spike shut the door, the room turned about ten shades darker. Uncaring, Twilight returned to her reading session. However, it was a bit too dark for her to read anything. She looked at the lamp, then turned to the window. Twilight had a bit of a lazy moment and decided to use the light from the window in order to see the small font on the pages of her book.

Now that she was closer to the window she was able to hear the noises outside. Laughter of young foals and adults alike rang in her ears. The crunching of the snow under hooves of ponies began tempting Twilight to go outside. Nevertheless, Twilight would have none of that. She was never much of an outside pony. When she was little she spent most of her time sitting around inside, not acknowledging anypony around her. Though it was true that ever since she moved to Ponyville she had been going out more, and she kind of liked it.

Twilight shook her head, she had studying to do. She'd never know when the princess might like to pop a pop quiz on her. Twilight let her head tilt down again to focus on her book, but focus wasn't coming so easy to her. Every time she tried reading a word, a chuckle or guffaw would come from outside. First, she tried ignoring it. Then, she tried ignoring it. Her final solution was ignoring it. Nothing was working. Twilight let herself have a little peek outside the window after hearing a familiar snortle. Of course Pinkie Pie was outside playing with the foals. Twilight let herself look around a little more, then she saw the rest of her friends outside as well. Pinkie was being psychotic, Rarity was being huffy, Fluttershy was being paranoid, and Rainbow and Applejack were following behind cracking jokes with each other. Twilight look to her book and back to the outside world. Perhaps she could take just a little break.

Twilight trotted down her steps and stuck each of her four hooves into little yellow boots. She then stepped outside into the cold snow. She shivered as the nearly frozen water crunched beneath her. After taking a couple steps out, she then remembered that her scarf was still inside. She turned to go get the pink striped scarf she adored, however, upon reaching her abode she realized she'd locked herself out of her own house. Twilight sighed and continued her walk towards her friends. As the colorful dots grew closer, she put a smile on her face to make sure she wouldn't look sour for a reason unconnected to her friends.

"Hey guys!" Twilight Sparkle decided to greet her friends, making sure they knew of her arrival. In return, she was also greeted with a group of hellos and howdies. The orchid unicorn turned towards her experimental marefriend who was simply smiling. At the moment, she only wondered if Rainbow Dash had the nerve to tell anypony that they were "dating". Not that all her other friends knowing would affect her experiment all that much, she just didn't want her friends to think anything of it.

"Twilight!" a hyper pink pony called, "You're just for us to have a big snowball fight! Plus, now that you're here the teams are even."

"Oh yeah, uh, sounds like fun," Twilight forced a smile on her face. In truth, she'd neve been asked to participate in a snowball fight. Actually scratch that, she had been invited, she just never took on the opprotunity. Now that Twilight was a grown mare and she was just now having her first snowball fight, she felt kind of iffy.

"Woohoo! Now everypony just need's to pick their team." Pinkie pointed out.

"Or," Applejack decided to have her say.

"We could have a free for all!" Applejack not getting her say. Everypony looked at the prismatic pony who suggested the free for all idea. "That's right, a totally awesome, super exhilirating snowball pony royale!"

"Ohh, that sounds like a great idea!" Pinkie Pie agreed.

"Well, that's kinda what Ah was plannin' to say, so Ah agree too," Applejack got her say. Even Twilight and Fluttershy nodded to the idea.

"Oh, pfft, I shall not participate in such a vulgour activity as eugh _snowball _fighting," Rarity said as she pranced in her designer snow boots. "Only a ruffian like you would even suggest an idea. Why don't we make a pretty pony of snow, or we cou-_aiiekk!_" Rarity's monologue was put to an end by a rogue snowball that somehow landed on her face. As the snow fell from the ivory unicorn's muzzle, a dour expression was left on her face. "Oh, it. Is. On."

For about another hour or so, everypony chortled and played as snowballs flew through the air in every direction. Twilight, who was using her magic to her own advantage, began to notice how dark it had been getting. She shivered slightly after yet another snowball found it's way onto her violet coat. She'd forgotted that she had no scarf, hat, nor a saddle or jacket to keep her warm. As it got darker, it began to get colder as well. Twilight looked around, everypony was so engaged in the activity she decided not to announce her leaving.

As Twilight began trotting back to her home, she heard small gusts of wind picking up behind her. She knew it was probably a sign that it was getting colder outside, so she started to speed up.

"Wait." Twilight heard a call for attention. She swiftly swung her head around to see the source of the noise.

"Oh hey Rainbow Dash," Twilight welcomed her friend.

"Where are you going, everypony is still out in the snow having fun. We were gonna watch the stars after we were done." Rainbow said. Twilight simply shrugged.

"Well, I fogot my jacket and scarf and it was getting kind of chilly. I was just going to head home now, maybe get a bit of studying done."

"Pfft," Dash scoffed, "You're gonna spend a night like this reading? That's something an egghead would do."

"But I thought I was an egghead?" Twilight countered a bit baffled.

"Well, yeah, but you're not supposed to promote it."

"What?" Twilight rose a brow. Rainbow Dash simply sighed and looked to the sky. Twilight stared as Dash's personality seemed to soften while she was mezmerized by the stars. It was like a nicer, gentler side to the Rainbow Dash she was used to.

"C'mon," Rainbow broke the lingering silence, "follow me."

A five minute walk lead the couple to a familiar change in scenery. It was a nice lush hill, the one they'd once watch a meteor shower at. Although the normal nighr sky was nothing like a meteor shower, Luna still did an amazing job painting her canvas. Twilight stared in wonder at the many twinkling sparkles in the night sky. A whisp of cold air brushed against Twilight's fur; she shivered. As Twilight huffed a couple times in attempt ot warm herself up, she felt a scarf being drapped over her neck. Next, a plush blanket was wrapped around her. She couldn't tell what it was, but it was probably the most comfortable thing she'd ever felt.

Twilight looked over to Rainbow Dash. She was sharing her scarf. Twisting her neck, Twilight turned towards the blanket. It was a big, blue, feathery drape that was obviously attatched to Rainbow Dash's back. Twilight decided to play along, so she leaned over onto Dash's shoulder.

The worst part was that it felt right.

xXx

_A/N: Yeah, I'm alive. Anyway, I finally have some time to write. Sorry this took so long, so I made it... actually this is a pretty short chapter. High school applications are boring and time consuming, but I manage it. Either way, this means I can't write nearly as much as I wish to until February when all those tests are over._

_Edit: Dagnabit I didn't send this to my prereaders and it already sent out those e-mails... well, I'm sorry about all those grammatical errors._


	7. Chapter 7

_**Thanks to  
****Almost an Actress  
**_

* * *

The gentle breeze of winter's night kept Twilight in a calm mood. That and the mare she was leaning on. After a couple more minutes of relaxation, Twilight decided it might be best to head back home. Twilight shifted a bit, notifying the rainbow mare.

"Something wrong?"

"Oh, nothing," Twilight responded, "just think it may be time to head home."

"Oh alright. Want me to walk you there?" Dash offered. Twilight accepted Rainbow's offer and the two began heading towards the library. Upon reaching the tree shaped book container, Twilight looked at herself feeling like she was forgetting something. She hadn't had a saddle nor a jacket, and overall, no pockets. She'd completely locked herself out. Twilight let out an exaggerated sigh and looked to the snow.

"Something wrong?" Rainbow asked a second time in all of ten minutes.

"Well, I may have locked my self out of my house."

"Oh, why didn't you say so? Don't worry, I got this." With that, the pony spectrum flew up to one of the many windows and opened it with a bit of a struggle. Once the window was opened, she flew into the building.

xXx

Upon entering, Rainbow Dash squinted her eyes, it was like an abandoned warehouse: nearly pitch black. Of course winter nights where always dark, but it was like Twilight had a phobia of lights. After letting her eyes accumulate to the darkness a little, Rainbow trotted around, attempting to find the stairs. Opened her wings in order to feel what was around her and soon found a switch. Rainbow smirked, it had to be a light switch. She flicked the switch on and sooner than later a noise of whirling began to fade in as a gust of wind swept the room. Dash looked around in a mild panic after hearing papers begin to fly around, one of them scratching her neck. Quickly, she turned off the ceiling fan and embarked on looking for the stairs again.

xXx

It took a while, but Dash was able to open the door for the purple mare.

"What took you so long?" Twilight asked upon Dash finally opening the door.

"War with paper." Rainbow responded. Twilight rolled her eyes at the joke and trotted into her abode. Twilight entered the upstairs room and looked at all the papers scattered around. She turned towards Dash.

"Ceiling fan?"

A meek nod in response. Twilight giggled, Spike had done the same thing a while ago.

"Well thanks for getting me back home safe and sound," Twilight smiled. Rainbow said nothing, she simple smiled in return and waved goodbye.

Rainbow Dash flew back to her own home slightly irritated. It wasn't because of Twilight or anypony else that she was irritated, it was her neck. Something was bothering it and she wasn't sure if it was just her scarf. Dash removed her scarf and headed to her bathroom mirror in order to inspect her neck. Lifting her chin to get a better view, Rainbow noticed the slit along the side of her neck, most likely a paper cut.

The tomcolt simply shrugged it off and headed off for bed, unknowing of the paper she'd carried in her scarf from Twilight's house.

xXx

The week seemed to roll by quickly. Every day went by without Twilight Sparkle realizing it, everyday but the dinner date with Rainbow Dash. Twilight sat down at her desk wondering if she should take her paper out and begin recording more data. She decided not to, her mind still set on the dinner date.

Everything was going well at first. Rainbow seemed a bit nervous in the start, but as the night went on, she became more comfortable. Since Twilight was the most recent member of the friends of Ponyville, she would often times hear of things from the past or things she hadn't known of before. One of those things was Rainbow Dash's rarely seen soft side. She'd often hear her friends tease the pegasus for having a sweet spot, though Dash would shun it as if it were nothing. That night, Twilight had seen the mythical sympathetic Rainbow Dash.

_"This is probably really cheesey," Rainbow fidgeted, "but there's no other genuine way to say this." Twilight looked at Rainbow, feeling something was off, as if she were out of character. Her ruby eyes staring deeply into her own. "I love you."_

Twilight looked at the stack of papers on her desk. She never finished organizing them since Rainbow's ceiling fan incident. She reached for the papers in order to obtain her paper with her research. As her hoof neared the stack, she hesitated. Rainbow really liked her, and here Twilight was, using her for her own knowledge purposes. Guilt welled up inside of Twilight and she couldn't stand it. She had to talk to somepony, somepony who could help her. If there was one pony in Ponyville that knew a thing or two of romance, it was Rarity.

xXx

Rainbow Dash lay on her fluffly bed of clouds, staring at the ceiling as if something good would come of such an action. She thought back to a certain dinner date with a certain purple unicorn. That was the day she decided to spill her guts. For one thing, she was happy that she was able to finally confess to Twilight. However, on the other hoof, she was nervous, Twilight hadn't truly responded.

_"I need some time to figure things out."_

Dash wasn't happy with the answer, nor was she upset. Although, she still wanted something more sincere. Even if Twilight came back and gave her a straight up no, at least her mind would be at ease. Kind of.

Tired of her lack of positive thoughts, Rainbow Dash rolled off her bed and began to head towards her kitchen, craving a glass of water. She walked slowly and groggily like anypony would on a Monday morning, then she passed her coat hanger. Because ponies generally didn't use coats, she left her own collection of scarves hanging instead. She always liked to look at the scarves as she passed by, admiring the array of colors she set out.

Dash being the rainbow pony of Equestria, minus Celestia, she had all her scarves in the order of the rainbow. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue with a spec of white, indigo, purple. She smiled, then frowned. What was a spec of white doing in her blue scarf. Rainbow stepped up to the scarf and grabbed the paper. Curious, she read through it.

Then she read it again.

And again.

And once more.

This was her straight up no.

* * *

_A/N: Awww snapple apples, I wrote a whole thousand words! See, this was gonna be out a few days ago but Spring Break doesn't work that way. I thought I'd actually get this done quick and start a new chapter, then I got that Black Ops expansion pack and played Die Rise all week. It's not my fault zombies are cooler than writing...  
I probs left a bunch of mistakes in there still cause I was rushing. Oh well...  
Entieway, thanks for reading!_


	8. Chapter 8

**Huge thanks to  
****Almost and Actress  
**and** CheddarandPretzelCombos**

* * *

Although the boutique seemed quite prestigious and high mannered, it was always very welcoming. Due to Rarity's renowned hospitality, it was seemingly the most welcoming place in Ponyville.

Twilight watched as Rarity wandered off to the kitchen in order to fetch the two of them some tea. During the time the ivory unicorn was absent, Twilight pondered whether or not it was was a good idea to tell another her doings. After several moments of deep pondering, Twilight thought more and more of how horrible a pony she was being by using a friend for such a shallow experiment. She didn't want any of her other friends to think any less of her. Then again, talking things out proved to be a solving point for most other issues she'd dealt with before. Plus, Rarity was known for being an expert when it came to advice. At that moment, the pony in thought had exited the kitchen, a platter of kettles and cups held with a sapphire magic and a smile upon her face. With a with a quick and discrete sigh, Twilight settled on staying and discussing her problem at hoof.

The conversation also seemed to began with Rarity asking the same question, "One or two cubes of sugar?" Then Twilight would always respond with the word one, or sometimes if she was feeling adventurous, she'd request two cubes. Nevertheless, it was always a hassle to get into any real conversation. Rarity would take a sip of her tea, patiently waiting for Twilight to begin speaking. Usually, Twilight Sparkle would sip, sigh then speak; the triple s. This time around, the lavender unicorn fidgeted and looked around for any distraction to occupy herself, not wanting to spill what was on her mind. Being the good friend Rarity was, she played along.

"So," Twilight let the single syllable linger, "looks like you redecorated a bit around here." Truth be told, Twilight hadn't noticed more than a knack and knick switching places upon the wall.

"How nice of you to notice, dear! I actually did spruce the place up just a bit, this seemed to be a more welcoming appearance." Rarity smiled, then continued, "I actually only rearranged a couple things in the room, but it's the small things that make the difference."

Twilight hadn't been paying all her attention and only responded with a halfhearted "yeah." The room sank into an awkward silence before Rarity took the liberty to break it.

"Twilight, it's obvious something is on your mind. You came here for more than just tea and I think it's best to just get straight to the point, darling."

Twilight knew there was no avoiding it. Rarity could read anypony no matter the circumstances; she'd probably best Twilight at reading if ponies were books. With a sigh, Twilight began her story, "You see, ever since you started recommending them, I've started reading more of those romance novels."

"Really? I thought you just said you'd try to get me to stop nagging you about it. Then again, you're not as cold hearted as those ruffians, Applejack and Rainbow Dash." At the mention of Rainbow Dash, Twilight's heart sank. This was definitely going to be way harder than she would've hoped.

xXx

Curiosity just had to get the best of her. "Experiment: Two Weeks. Research: Bad pairs can only make it through two weeks at most. Hypothesis: Rainbow Dash and I will break up in less than two weeks. Date one:" was all Dash read. She didn't want to see the horrid things that might've followed the heading entitled "Date One."

Clearly, that piece of paper didn't belong to her. Clearly, it was only an accident she'd obtained it in the first place. Clearly, she shouldn't have been so darn curious and had just kept her eyes off the words scripted on that darn piece of paper. Clearly, Twilight didn't need "some time to figure things out." Her mind was made up from the start.

However, first things first. What should she do with said piece of paper? Should Rainbow brashly confront Twilight, paper in hoof, and demand the meaning of it? Why ask for the meaning? It was clear what it was all about. Instead, Dash settled on first returning the paper to it's rightful spot. Afterward would she talk to Twilight about this whole experiment. Wait. That would be too awkward. Maybe another friend would be better to talk to.

Fluttershy would probably advise Dash to talk it out with Twilight, not what she wanted to do. Applejack would recommend the same. Pinkie Pie would tell her how Morse code works or some other crazy thing. Rainbow ruled everypony out except for Rarity. Seeing as Rarity was supposedly the romantic genius of the group and the only one who would give some real advice on the matter, she was the only option left for Rainbow.

First step, return letter that confirms Twilight has no romantic interest in Rainbow.

"Thank you so much Rarity," Twilight thanked her unicorn friend as she exited her abode.

"Anytime, dear!" Rarity called back to Twilight as she made her way towards her own home. Twilight walked towards the library, going through her previous conversation with Dash in her mind. The final decision was to go through with everything. Sometimes it was hard to read the brash pegasus.

"You know Rainbow Dash, dear. She always has two reactions to everything. In your case, she'll either be mad or nonchalant." Rarity said, "although, if you were serious about what you said earlier, I don't think you'll like what her nonchalant reaction means."

Twilight didn't know how to handle it. If Dash was mad, Twilight would feel bad for her. If she was lax, Twilight would feel bad for herself. It was like she was stuck between a rock and a hard place, there was no escape.

xXx

Rainbow stealthily infiltrated the library through the window of Twilight's bedroom. She didn't bother with the lights, it was light enough outside for electricity to make very little of a difference. Taking a look around, the pegasus noticed nothing had been cleaned since she made the mess. It seemed unlike Twilight not to clean all the papers scattered across the floor, being the perfectionist she is.

Shrugging it off, the polychromatic pegasus slipped her accidentally stolen paper between two random ones that lay on the floor. She then used her wings to create a gust of wind, putting the room into unseemingly more chaos, just to make sure things didn't look too suspicious. Being proud of her work, Rainbow headed down the stairs to exit the great tree.

As the cerulean weather pony made her way halfway across the floor of the library, the sound of a door being unlocked echoed hollowly through the room. Her ears twitched a bit. That was her only move. Dash was utterly still. Her heart raced, knowing Twilight would soon walk through the door and she'd be stuck trying to explain why she was there. She heard the knob the of the door being turned and the little click sound of the door opening. Everything seemed to go in slow motion as the wooden plank sealing the building squeaked open. Then the lights turned on.

"Rainbow? What are you doing here? I'm pretty sure I closed the library before I left."

"Oh, hey, Twilight," Rainbow Dash began. Her body, minus head, was facing a random bookshelf and one hoof was up pointing at the spine of one book as if she had been looking for that one book. "I just swung by to get one of those Wonderbolt history books. I wanna see if I can still be the youngest member to join," Dash half lied, "you weren't here so I let myself in through that window." She pointed at a random window in the room, not even knowing if it could be opened or not.

Twilight looked at the window. "Well alright, but the that's the fairy tale section. I'm pretty sure Jack and his beanstalk aren't going to tell you much about the Wonderbolts."

"Oh yeah, the room was so dark-couldn't see which section I was at," Rainbow lied._  
_

"Yup, it's these long winter nights." Rainbow only nodded in response and waited for Twilight to show her the way to the books she'd been fake looking for, "here you are, Wonderbolt's history. Sorry for the lack of books, so far I've only been shipped two of different volumes and the one that was already here is pretty out of date." Rainbow had only been half listening until Twilight said date. Should she talk to her about it while she had this perfect opportunity or wait until she could discuss with Rarity. Since Dash was clearly some sort of a coward, she decided on the latter.  
"Thanks Twilight, you're a great help." So with that, Rainbow Dash randomly chose from the two books Twilight had shown her and galloped off elsewhere.  
Rainbow flew to cloud home and dropped off the book she'd taken and quickly flew back towards the only dress shop in town. After ringing the doorbell more times than she could count, the fancy fuchsia door finally opened.

Rarity had just finished having her emotionally intense conversation with Twilight a mere half hour ago. Filling Rarity's mind were the images of her close friend's expressions as she described her predicament. Rarity felt a deep sympathy for Twilight, and because Rarity has never been in such a horrible situation, she could only imagine how her pastel purple friend feels. In reality, it was an awful thing to do in the first place, but since she knew Twilight was just a bit socially awkward, Rarity didn't fully blame her. She did feel bad for Rainbow Dash as well, having been sucked into this silly experiment. Hopefully, Twilight would heed her advice and be able to fix things between her and Dash.  
After having the last bit of tea that lingered in her cup, Rarity got up and carefully began staking all the cups and kettles back onto the platter she used to take them out. She then took all the dishes to her kitchen sink and turned the faucet on. She prepared herself to begin cleaning the dishes when the sound of her doorbell alerted her of the coming of another visitor. Rarity began making her way to the front door when the doorbell chimed again. She stopped, confused as to why it would sound off again or why her visitor would wait such a short time before ringing it again. Then the bell went off again, and again, and so many more times that it each bell sound would get cut off by the next. Whichever pony at her door must have quite a small amount of patience. The bell chimes again, and Rarity continues going towards the door.  
She finally made it to the door and fiercely opened it with, an noticeably irritated, "Hello" just barely escaping her mouth. Standing on the other side of the door was her colorful friend. Of course, the impatient Rainbow Dash. Oh no, Rainbow Dash.  
"Hi Rares." Dash greeted to Rarity, staring at her slightly bewildered.

All she said was, "Hi," when Rarity said, "Uh. I think I left my faucet running" before she slammed the door with unnecessary force mere inches from Dash's snout.  
"Did I do something?"

* * *

_A/N; realizing there is no chapter 6 ._._

_Nearly 2k words this chapter. Haven't done that since finale chapter of Just Play it Cool.  
why am i late? BO2 Buried came out ; have exboks, we'll play  
and hey, cliffhanger is nowhere near as annoying as the others i've done c:  
_

_entywai, two or three more chapters and I'm done.  
_


End file.
